Rolling Jazz Thread 2013

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Discussion of the death of jazz, why so-and-so isn't a real jazz musician, etc., etc.

誤訳侮辱, Friday, 4 January 2013 03:44 (eleven years ago) link

So who's going to Winter Jazzfest? I'm thinking about it; here's what I'm hoping to catch:

FRIDAY 1/11
7:30pm - Yosvany Terry Quintet (THE BITTER END)
8:15pm - Michael Attias (CULTURE PROJECT THEATER)
9:15pm - Jaimeo Brown’s Transcendence (ZINC BAR)

SATURDAY 1/12
7:00pm - Michael Formanek (CULTURE PROJECT THEATER)
7:45pm - Ari Hoenig Group (SULLIVAN HALL)
8:30pm - The Cookers (LE POISSON ROUGE)
9:45pm - Rudresh Mahanthappa's Gamak (LPR)

誤訳侮辱, Friday, 4 January 2013 03:45 (eleven years ago) link

Found a Roy Haynes album, Love Letters from 2002, in a I-don't-want-these-somebody-take-'em pile at work. It's a collection of standards, which I've complained about in the past, but I'm enjoying it. It features several different bands:

1) Joshua Redman, tenor sax; Kenny Barron, piano; Christian McBride, bass; Haynes
2) Barron, McBride, Haynes
3) John Scofield, guitar; David Kikoski, piano; Dave Holland, bass; Haynes
4) Scofield, Holland, Haynes
5) Haynes solo on one track

誤訳侮辱, Saturday, 5 January 2013 21:04 (eleven years ago) link

Would listen.

Never make it to the Winter Jazzfest but somebody was talking it up to me last weekend. Just looked at the lineup and there is definitely stuff I would like to see although there were some artists on the bio page I couldn't find on the schedule page.

Albee Thousand (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 5 January 2013 21:34 (eleven years ago) link

Oh wait, I was looking at the 2012 bios.

Albee Thousand (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 5 January 2013 21:35 (eleven years ago) link

Looks like I'm also gonna be going to the David S. Ware memorial service/concert tomorrow night in Manhattan (St. Peter's Church, Lexington & 54th, 7 PM). Performances by:

Cooper–Moore (solo harp)

William Parker ("special presentation")

Muhammad Ali & Darius Jones (sax/drums duo)

Joe Morris & Warren Smith (guitar/drums duo)

Andrew Cyrille, Daniel Carter, Joe Morris: (sax/bass/drums trio)

Matthew Shipp, William Parker, Guillermo E. Brown (piano/bass/drums trio performing compositions by David S. Ware)

誤訳侮辱, Sunday, 6 January 2013 12:20 (eleven years ago) link

I wrote up the new Colin Stetson/Mats Gustafsson saxophone duos CD, Stones, for Burning Ambulance.

誤訳侮辱, Monday, 7 January 2013 15:15 (eleven years ago) link

Can any jazz-bos point me to their (or other good) Best of 2012 lists? Been browsing some outlets' but haven't hit anything i hadn't heard that's blown my mind yet. Michael Wollny comes closest i guess.

sean gramophone, Monday, 7 January 2013 15:35 (eleven years ago) link

There's a really good interview with JD Allen (maybe my favorite living saxophonist) in the new issue of Down Beat. I almost never find anything interesting in that magazine, but this is well worth reading. Apparently, his next album will feature a pianist, after four trio discs in a row.

誤訳侮辱, Saturday, 12 January 2013 04:15 (eleven years ago) link

that gustafsson/stetson record sounds good!

I've been really into this Steve Reid/Kieran Hebden/Mats Gustafsson Live at the South Bank record recently.

space phwoar (Hurting 2), Saturday, 12 January 2013 05:04 (eleven years ago) link

more lists: http://members.jazzjournalists.org/2012best

dan, Saturday, 12 January 2013 05:58 (eleven years ago) link

Got a download of the studio debut by trumpeter David Weiss's Point of Departure band, Venture Inward, the other day. It's their first album for Posi-Tone after two live discs, Snuck In and Snuck Out, on Sunnyside. They're a repertory band, but the tunes they perform are a pretty interesting selection—Andrew Hill's "Erato" (from Pax), Herbie Hancock's "I Have a Dream" (from The Prisoner), Miles Davis's "Paraphernalia" and "Black Comedy" (from Miles in the Sky), Charles Tolliver's "Revillot," and some tunes by the much more obscure Kenny Cox and the Contemporary Jazz Quintet, who made two Blue Note albums in 1968-69. It's really good stuff—Weiss on trumpet, JD Allen on sax, Nir Felder on guitar, bassist Matt Clohesy and drummer Jamire Williams. It'll be out in late February.

誤訳侮辱, Tuesday, 22 January 2013 02:15 (eleven years ago) link

Jose James came through

tsrobodo, Tuesday, 22 January 2013 02:37 (eleven years ago) link

really, what's the record like? "it's all over your body" is great but the rhythm section carries it. might be the best use of chris dave + pino on record yet.

keef qua keef (Jordan), Tuesday, 22 January 2013 15:09 (eleven years ago) link

I've been really into this Steve Reid/Kieran Hebden/Mats Gustafsson Live at the South Bank record recently.

Help me like it. What does it do for you? I want to like it- I like the concept- but it sounds dull and samey and undynamic to me.

Funk/Tonk (FunkyTonk), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 15:34 (eleven years ago) link

IDK man, put it on in the background and give it some time to build? I don't think it's exactly supposed to be "dynamic" in a striking way, more fluid and gradually changing.

space phwoar (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 15:39 (eleven years ago) link

Listened to the new Jeremy Pelt album, Water and Earth, this morning. It's a big change from his last four albums with his acoustic quintet - this one features organ and electric piano, occasional electric bass, female vocals (a lead on one song, a wordless chorus on the opening track), and Pelt even plays through a wah-wah or some other sound-altering device at a few points. If his last few albums were sometimes too clearly indebted to the Miles Davis quintet of 1965-68, this one owes a little bit to Filles de Kilimanjaro and the second half of Water Babies, but also reminds me of Joe Henderson's The Elements. It's really good stuff; Pelt is a major talent. Out next week on High Note.

誤訳侮辱, Wednesday, 23 January 2013 15:55 (eleven years ago) link

nothing against jeremy pelt (whom i like), but it gives me a headache when jazz musicians pull the same 40+ year old moves to make an 'electric' album (effects pedals on horns, funk beats, Rhodes, etc). also thinking of dave douglas, robert glasper, etc.

not that there is necessarily a great way to incorporate recent electronic music innovations with real improvisation -- when i think about records by jazz musicians who have really gotten their head around electronics (nicholas payton, craig taborn maybe, archie pelago?) it usually just makes me want to listen to straight electronic/dance/r&b/whatever. Thundercat's record found a nice midpoint between some serious group playing and a sound/production-oriented vibe, haven't listened to it recently though.

keef qua keef (Jordan), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 16:11 (eleven years ago) link

OTM I feel the same way about most jazz incorporation of electronics.

I recently actually went to a show where a jazz trumpeter did a "noise" thing that involved playing a standard through tons of effects, looping pedals, etc. and turning it into noise, and in the end I just found the fact that the standard melody was there at all distracting.

space phwoar (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 23 January 2013 16:15 (eleven years ago) link

Jazz Gallery reopening tonight at their new location in the Flatiron District. Good band tonight, Alex Brown on piano with his brother Zach on bass, Mike Rodriguez on trumpet and the dynamic duo of Eric Doob and Paulo Stagnaro on drums and percussion.

Leopard Skin POLL-Box Hat (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 24 January 2013 18:07 (eleven years ago) link

/street_team

Leopard Skin POLL-Box Hat (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 24 January 2013 18:08 (eleven years ago) link

Interesting Twitter tirade from Eric "ELEW" Lewis, a pianist who had a decent career in the jazz mainstream (played in Wynton Marsalis's band, etc.) but has since embarked on a somewhat showbizzy career playing solo piano versions of rock tunes. I like his stuff - it reminds me of Matt Shipp - but the jazz press pretty much turns up their nose at him. Here's what he had to say:

Its really sad to devote ones life to an Art form and be ignored on the basis of some Petty bias. Nancy has been trying to get press, and airplay from ALL these Jazz stations and Jazz shows since my record came out. We went to @jalcnyc I hand delivered a cd to the dude over there who runs the radio show and he has cold blown us off. I mean this AINT Hip Hop or Rock or Pop. Whats up with all the Hate? I mean there is so much i can share with the community at a historical level, Elvin, Wynton, Hendricks. Students and jazz fans would love to know some in depth stories about traveling and working with JAZZ LEGENDS. Why does the pop world have me performing with them and the JAZZ world ignore me? I mean i opened for @joshgroban and played ARENAS solo piano! Does anyone know how hard that was? Serious pressure trying to keep a gig and playing for people who are NOT Jazz listeners. But did @DownBeatMag or @JazzTimes cover it? No. Im contributing to the Story of American Jazz in a MIGHTY way and the people who are tasked with doing their part are being IGNORANT. I come from the Hood. Camden NJ. I should be the one acting all IGNORANT. I guess if i were to behave like a scary RAPPER or something these Jazz journalists would LOVE me. But when i have my manager contact these individuals like a pro i get treated WORSE than if I was trying to get on AMERICAS GOT TALENT and AGT treated me GREAT. And so did @joshgroban and so did Lil Wayne and Dave Matthews. When I bought advertising in Downbeat and Jazztimes NOBODY Discriminated. And if I was to buy ADVERTISING on these fundraiser needing radio stations, there would be no Discrimination against my dollar. So this is the situation huh? Jazz. And They wonder why I made Rockjazz. I don't need them financially speaking. Im CHALLENGING them to be what they are supposed to be and do what they are supposed to do. For JAZZ. Ive been wondering what it is that I need to do or tell Nancy but basically, like everything else, I gotta put LAMES on blast. Inner Urge. Solo piano. People are Strange. Stride. Complexions. Prepared Piano. Thanksgiving. Original Jazz Piano Composition. Please Play. It sounds good. Must I BEG? @checkoutjazz @nprmusic Is that what Im reduced to at THIS point? Is that what is needed? Sad. If Im wrong, I'd LOVE to know where. And if you're just gonna be silent and Ignorant, I ll be sure to tweet that too. I mean what do i have to lose. Brother gotta put on a monkey suit just to be a part of his own MUSIC. Get it? It aint my preference to have to be this way but the level of Ignorance basically requires this brute force method. Not just gonna let these LAMES be the sole voice by me forfeiting my AMERICAN right to raise HELL about the type of Hypocrisy they are trafficking in. I settle musical ISSUES at the Jam Sessions. Can YOU Play??? Bottom Line. Show due RESPECT. Period. DO your freaking Job. Report the NEWS. You see this? (link to photo)THIS is what Jazz complaining looks like. But here I am complaining to THEM about the same thing! CRAZY! They want more job opportunities but most can't really play. The environment isn't sharply competitive because every Tom Dick and Harry is on Jazz Radio sounding OK and every year either HERBIE or CHICK win a Grammy. BORING. They invalidate the commercial music on LAME grounds, and FAIL to realize that the other musics ARE at least as valid as the MEDIOCRE Jazz that is TYPICALLY found in clubs and radio, WORLDWIDE. Whatever. Im just lashing out today. Having a little fun. Im gonna jam tonite and burn baby burn. Oscar gig gettin booked. Rock and Win.

誤訳侮辱, Thursday, 24 January 2013 18:35 (eleven years ago) link

there's a really interesting and extensive interview with him on Do the Math: http://dothemath.typepad.com/dtm/2012/10/five-questions-for-eric-lewis.html

i'll always have love for eric lewis -- he was in the group when i saw elvin jones around '01, and playing the single most burning, intense piano solo i've ever heard live.

keef qua keef (Jordan), Thursday, 24 January 2013 18:46 (eleven years ago) link

Looking forward to reading that interview, and the post above it, which I just now only skimmed, momentarily confusing jalc with jaymc. I met a guy once that lives in my neighborhood who started out as a jazz guitar player and now instead sells all those instructional DVDs about fingerstyle arrangements of Stevie Wonder tunes. He had the variant beef about how nobody knew who he was when he was playing the hard stuff but now he is much higher profile.

Leopard Skin POLL-Box Hat (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 24 January 2013 18:55 (eleven years ago) link

on one hand his current persona feels corny, and it's not a good look to seem like you're transparently grasping for crossover $$$ (ie "R0ckjazz", Coldplay covers, etc). on the other hand, he's certainly under no obligation to keep struggling in the straight-ahead jazz world for no money, and i hope he finds whatever success he's looking for. i definitely know some super bitter jazz musicians who think their talent & experience somehow entitles them to a career playing straight-ahead jazz, and constantly post rants on facebook about how "real music" isn't valued any more. also not a good look.

keef qua keef (Jordan), Thursday, 24 January 2013 19:16 (eleven years ago) link

FWIW, I tried some recent Eric Lewis after seeing him on an EOY list (maybe from Philadelphia City Paper), but it didn't make much of an impression on me. From what I remember it did seem a little too pop for anyone to expect jazz publications to pick up on it in a big way, but I admit my memory of what it sounded like is hazy. (I think I've checked him out previously as well. I definitely remember seeing his name years back, playing at the Painted Bride, etc. but I've never seen him perform.)

_Rudipherous_, Thursday, 24 January 2013 19:23 (eleven years ago) link

definitely know some super bitter jazz musicians who think their talent & experience somehow entitles them to a career playing straight-ahead jazz, and constantly post rants on facebook about how "real music" isn't valued any more. also not a good look.

― keef qua keef (Jordan), Thursday, January 24, 2013 2:16 PM (10 minutes ago)


OTM. Recently encountered one such cat as a sub at a friend's regular restaurant gig and caught a lot of static, presumably for being insufficiently respectful. At one point, I thought he was going to hit me. I dunno, maybe he didn't notice that 1) I already knew the other guys he was playing with or that 2) I was the only one in the place not holding an instrument who was paying attention to the music. The other guys told me he is not so bad once he knows you. Who knows, maybe I really was being annoying, maybe I was being" that guy."

Leopard Skin POLL-Box Hat (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 24 January 2013 19:34 (eleven years ago) link

P lame rant imo. You have wide commercial success and you're mad because the miniscule jazz world isn't singing your praises?

space phwoar (Hurting 2), Thursday, 24 January 2013 19:50 (eleven years ago) link

Also to knock Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock winning grammies (often for for crossover albums) in the same breath.

space phwoar (Hurting 2), Thursday, 24 January 2013 19:57 (eleven years ago) link

You left out knocking the mediocre jazz that is found in the clubs. I mean, how can he be sure?

Leopard Skin POLL-Box Hat (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 24 January 2013 20:01 (eleven years ago) link

Also, listening to this dude now and really not feeling it at all. Jazz-rock Liberace. #countmeamongthehaters

space phwoar (Hurting 2), Thursday, 24 January 2013 20:04 (eleven years ago) link

i don't know that he really has much in the way of 'wide commercial success' though, and at the same time he's getting backlash from the jazz world where he's paid serious dues.

i have no interest in listening to his current stuff either, but i wish you could have heard him with elvin.

keef qua keef (Jordan), Thursday, 24 January 2013 20:26 (eleven years ago) link

I'm sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, but I'm trying to figure out who the characters are in this (maybe apocryphal?) story that I only very vaguely remember: bandleader asks for a drum solo, drummer goes off, bandleader tells drummer to start over and play it at half speed--doing so, bandleader says, is actually more challenging/beautiful/etc. I'm probably butchering the tale, but does anyone know? Is Buddy Rich involved? This came up in conversation recently and it's bugging me. Don't want, of course, to butcher it any longer. Thanks in advance and sorry for the little thread hijack.

Darvin H.A.M. (AlexPh), Friday, 25 January 2013 07:30 (eleven years ago) link

it was monk + frankie dunlop:
http://shipdrummer.blogspot.com/2011/04/frankie-dunlop-on-monk.html

keef qua keef (Jordan), Friday, 25 January 2013 22:11 (eleven years ago) link

Yes!!! Thank you so much. God, that is an excellent read.

Darvin H.A.M. (AlexPh), Saturday, 26 January 2013 07:21 (eleven years ago) link

Tom Hull year end list always turns me on to jazz things.
sent away for his #2 (jazz) from last year by The Group (Ahmed Abdullah, Marion Brown, Billy Bang, Sirone, Fred Hopkins, Andrew Cyrille) - Live (1986, NYC)
i like all those guys think this would appeal to Ornette fans. just listening now for the first time and it sounds great

making plans for nyquil (outdoor_miner), Saturday, 26 January 2013 19:20 (eleven years ago) link

frankie dunlop is prob my favorite non-canonized drummer

space phwoar (Hurting 2), Saturday, 26 January 2013 19:32 (eleven years ago) link

The Group album is excellent. All the players are great, but for me, things really take off when Billy Bang solos. Beautiful version of Goodbye Pork Pie Hat.

No Business is such a great label - everything they put out is worth hearing. The Liudius Makunius/Barry Guy CD, Lava, is fantastic - hugely inventive and elemental sax and bass duet. There's also a terrific album by Bobby Bradford and a top notch band of Scandinavian free jazzers.

Poor.Old.Tired.Horse. (Stew), Saturday, 26 January 2013 19:37 (eleven years ago) link

thx for the recs, Stew
i only know Barry Guy from Amalgam's Prayer for Peace but that's enough to make me know i need to hear Lava
and no doubt - Mr. Bang is playing his freaking heart out on this Group show

making plans for nyquil (outdoor_miner), Saturday, 26 January 2013 20:00 (eleven years ago) link

NoBusiness sends me everything they put out (CDs, and CD-Rs of the vinyl-only stuff). Unfortunately, the package that included that Group CD was completely destroyed by rain - the booklets were all melted onto the CDs. Would have liked to hear it.

誤訳侮辱, Saturday, 26 January 2013 20:46 (eleven years ago) link

Wayne Shorter's new album streaming here, for a little while:
http://www.npr.org/2013/01/27/170099510/first-listen-wayne-shorter-without-a-net?ft=3&f=126134671&sc=nl&cc=jn-20130203
Also, an intriguing interview, with excerpts of this 'n' that--downloadable, even:
http://www.npr.org/2013/02/02/170882668/wayne-shorter-on-jazz-how-do-you-rehearse-the-unknown

dow, Sunday, 3 February 2013 22:26 (eleven years ago) link

Wow, the Shorter is sounding great so far.

EveningStar (Sund4r), Sunday, 3 February 2013 23:20 (eleven years ago) link

Looks like a pretty good band. Will have to check it out.

Leopard Skin POLL-Box Hat (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 3 February 2013 23:28 (eleven years ago) link

that's been his working band for a WHILE now. They're sick.

space phwoar (Hurting 2), Monday, 4 February 2013 00:33 (eleven years ago) link

Pretty much the only jazz eminence gris whose new releases I still look forward to

space phwoar (Hurting 2), Monday, 4 February 2013 00:34 (eleven years ago) link

The quartet's been together 12 years now. I interviewed Brian Blade last week - it'll be up on Blue Note's website on Tuesday.

誤訳侮辱, Monday, 4 February 2013 02:39 (eleven years ago) link

They must be playing in places I can't get into.

Leopard Skin POLL-Box Hat (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 4 February 2013 03:08 (eleven years ago) link

I don't think they do many club or theater shows outside NYC - mostly festivals. I saw them in 2011 at Town Hall.

誤訳侮辱, Monday, 4 February 2013 03:26 (eleven years ago) link

Flushing Town Hall?

Leopard Skin POLL-Box Hat (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 4 February 2013 03:38 (eleven years ago) link

How widely do you guys interpret jazz? Just because I saw not one but two copies of Gil Scott-Herons's The Bottle. which for a small scottish town is weird. Of course, Heron was born here, and his Dad played for Celtic, but still...

I have gathered no gaudy flowers of speech in other men's gardens (dowd), Thursday, 19 September 2013 16:22 (ten years ago) link

Anyone heard the Sons Of Kemet album? Seb Roachford group; two drummers, clarinet, and tuba. The tuba essentially plays acid-house-y bass, like a didgeridoo emulating a 303. Wicked fun. Very danceable.

they all are afflicted with a sickness of existence (Scik Mouthy), Monday, 23 September 2013 09:42 (ten years ago) link

Yep, I really like it. Always admired Seb Rochford as a drummer, but found his groups a little underwhelming: trained musos trying to do simple rock riffs but not really being dumb or noisy enough. But the double drum action on this is great, plus that fat tuba and Shabaka Hutchings' African-Caribbean melodic sensibility.

Poor.Old.Tired.Horse. (Stew), Monday, 23 September 2013 11:20 (ten years ago) link

ooh that sounds good!!

special beet service (La Lechera), Monday, 23 September 2013 14:35 (ten years ago) link

it is good!! https://soundcloud.com/sons-of-kemet

special beet service (La Lechera), Monday, 23 September 2013 14:39 (ten years ago) link

Yeah, I liked it - a lot of fun.

What I cannot bear is "normality." (dowd), Monday, 23 September 2013 19:51 (ten years ago) link

Yeah, outside Polar Bear and Acoustic Ladyland his other groups have left me cold; didn't get Fulborn Teversham. But this is great fun, really enjoyable.

they all are afflicted with a sickness of existence (Scik Mouthy), Monday, 23 September 2013 20:21 (ten years ago) link

This is good!

having nunavut (seandalai), Tuesday, 24 September 2013 01:44 (ten years ago) link

I've been getting my jazz on properly for the first time in my life. I'm starting to get a bit addicted. As well as obvious stuff like the Shape Of Jazz To Come, A Love Supreme etc, I'm currently digging Abdullah Ibrahim - Water From An Ancient Well which is fairly mellow, but never boring and very beautiful in places)

Pingu Unchained (dog latin), Tuesday, 24 September 2013 22:13 (ten years ago) link

Macarthur Foundation Genius grant winners announced, including:

Jazz pianist and composer Vijay Iyer is another recipient working a narrow artistic niche: “The business of making hit records is not the business we’re in,” the 41-year-old New Yorker says. “I don’t even see it as a business.”

It is “something larger,” he says. “In a way it’s not about success.”

Iyer performs regularly, and his work aims to help broaden the cultural conversation. Consider Iyer’s latest recording, “Holding It Down: The Veterans’ Dream Project,” which sets harrowing yet poetic recollections of returned warriors against haunting violin and piano scores.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/macarthur-foundation-awards-24-genius-grants/2013/09/24/d16de652-2555-11e3-ad0d-b7c8d2a594b9_story.html?hpid=z4

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 25 September 2013 15:09 (ten years ago) link

two weeks pass...

dog latin, you should check Ibrahim's album Ekaya, the one that got me into his music; it's the also name of his group now (or at least recently). Just got this press release:

SCANDINAVIAN FREE JAZZ, GARAGE TRIO, THE THING, SHARE "INDIA"

NEW ALBUM, BOOT!, OUT NOV. 12 ON THE THING RECORDS

THE THING PLAY THE GUGGENHEIM IN NEW YORK - WED. NOV. 20
Scandinavian free jazz, garage trio, The Thing -- Mats Gustafsson (bass, baritone, tenor and soprano saxophones), Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (electric bass) and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) - are releasing BOOT!, their most hard-hitting, open and epic release to date, on November 12th. It follows their collaborative release with Neneh Cherry, 2012's The Cherry Thing (Smalltown Supersound), and is their sixth studio album and the first album on their own label, The Thing Records. With dedicated fans in the rock, noise and jazz communities, BOOT! takes The Thing's music to new, uncompromising levels and continues to solidify The Thing's special and important position in the contemporary independent music world.
Recorded over three intense days, BOOT! breathes life and energy, capturing the deep riffs and distorted activities of the electric bass, the attack of the snare drum, the depth of the bass sax and epic lines of the tenor sax. It marks an important development in the trio's endless search of musical poetic meltdowns. Throughout, they transform their roots, combine their own free jazz and punk aesthetics with elements of Ethiopian music, soul, funk and noise, and re-work album-oriented material by Duke Ellington and John Coltrane. Take a listen via "India," premiered yesterday via The FADER.
STREAM/SHARE THE THING'S "INDIA" -

https://soundcloud.com/thingjazz/india
"'India,' their cover of John Coltrane's gorgeous piece from Impressions, swings pretty heavily with some raw sax and some incredibly excitable drums." - The FADER

Formed in 1999 and named after Don Cherry, The Thing are known for playing a variety of compositions, including material by PJ Harvey, The White Stripes, The Stooges, The Sonics, The Cramps, Lightning Bolt, The Ex and many more. They transformed the music of these other artists into a contemporary context, making it their own. As individuals or as a group, they have collaborated with those including, Peter Brötzmann, Sonic Youth, Jim O'Rourke, Thurston Moore, David Grubbs, Eye, The Ex, Pat Metheny, Arto Lindsay, Steve Reid, Kieran Hebden, Merzbow, Christian Marclay, The Nomads, Guy Picciotto, Neneh Cherry and more.
on Wednesday, November 20th, those in New York can see The Thing live at a special show at the Guggenheim curated by John Corbett and Christopher Wool. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/1bGdV72

dow, Thursday, 10 October 2013 15:21 (ten years ago) link

this is nice stuff:

http://www.npr.org/event/music/237080011/matt-ulerys-loom-tiny-desk-concert

i know the drummer, he's really great.

festival culture (Jordan), Wednesday, 23 October 2013 16:04 (ten years ago) link

really like that Jordan

#fomo that's the motto (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 23 October 2013 16:10 (ten years ago) link

Will check it out. Speaking of drummers, check this out: hum.uchicago.edu/orgs/review/60th/pdfs/38sorrentino.pdf Look for "Do the drummers in black hoods rumble anything out of their drums?"

Sodade Stereo (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 23 October 2013 17:07 (ten years ago) link

Just ordered the Woody Shaw and Dexter Gordon Complete Columbia Albums boxes - 7 CDs for Gordon, 6 for Shaw. I listened to some of each on Spotify before pulling the trigger - seems like pretty great stuff.

Also just shot some video interviews with Matthew Shipp and William Parker tonight in Parker's apartment - I'll have a piece up on Burning Ambulance next week with the two of them talking about David Ware, on Ware's birthday (11/7).

Humorist (horse) (誤訳侮辱), Tuesday, 29 October 2013 03:04 (ten years ago) link

Sad to hear that Frank Wess passed on Wednesday at the age of 91. RIP, Frank. http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2013/10/31/rip-frank-wess-d-c-jazz-flutist-and-tenor-saxophonist/

Waiting For The Ufas (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 1 November 2013 10:16 (ten years ago) link

Memorial on WKCR right now.

Waiting For The Ufas (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 1 November 2013 14:08 (ten years ago) link

Guess it started yesterday and will go on for much of today.

Waiting For The Ufas (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 1 November 2013 14:14 (ten years ago) link

With Joe Cohn on guitar and Jackie Williams on drums right now.

Waiting For The Ufas (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 1 November 2013 14:41 (ten years ago) link

Phil Schaap schooling us now.

Waiting For The Ufas (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 1 November 2013 14:54 (ten years ago) link

Atomic Basie time.

Waiting For The Ufas (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 1 November 2013 17:15 (ten years ago) link

Sorry, that's over now it's Battle Royal.

Waiting For The Ufas (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 1 November 2013 17:16 (ten years ago) link

u guys which of the year's christian mcbride records do u like better

Geoffrey Schweppes (jaymc), Saturday, 2 November 2013 05:36 (ten years ago) link

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18706-matana-roberts-coin-coin-chapter-two-mississippi-moonchile/

the next chapter of coin coin is out!!

chapter one was transcendent

j., Thursday, 7 November 2013 06:14 (ten years ago) link

Anyone heard Satelliti? Italian electronic / jazz duo - details & music here: http://www.satelliti.org/ and also here: http://satelliti.bandcamp.com/

The album (Transistor) was out last week and is really good; driving, jazzy, 70s fusion stuff with swirling keys and lots of early electronica bubbling underneath. Quite krauty, but definitely feels more jazz than anything else. Meant to be intense live, in a Bitches Brew in a nightclub way.

I can still taste the Taboo in my mouth when I hear those songs (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 7 November 2013 09:43 (ten years ago) link

Matthew Shipp's (solo) Piano Sutras and his collaboration with Guillermo E. Brown, Telephone Popcorn, are both great. I would just post this to a Matthew Shipp thread but there is none and I haven't got enough to say about him to justify starting one.

_Rudipherous_, Saturday, 9 November 2013 16:17 (ten years ago) link

Piano Sutras feels more expansive than One (but that is to say what exactly, considering how minimalist One was?). I haven't quite got a handle on it, but I love recognizing the moves he makes that are so simple and yet so distinctively his own. I think I'd need some music theory to describe them more concretely than that.

_Rudipherous_, Saturday, 9 November 2013 16:29 (ten years ago) link

Title track of Telephone Popcorn is hilariously Raesque.

_Rudipherous_, Wednesday, 13 November 2013 06:16 (ten years ago) link

man that wayne shorter album this year. snooze. right? mad respect to the man, tho. he's a living legend.

Geoffrey Schweppes (jaymc), Wednesday, 13 November 2013 06:29 (ten years ago) link

dow: just saw your recommendation. cheers, i'll check it out.

Pingu Unchained (dog latin), Wednesday, 13 November 2013 11:02 (ten years ago) link

i knew this guitarist when he lived in town for a minute, his record is pretty fiery: http://lukepolipnick.bandcamp.com/album/luke-polipnick-group-episodes

festival culture (Jordan), Wednesday, 13 November 2013 18:02 (ten years ago) link

two weeks pass...

http://www.freejazzblog.org/2013/08/adam-lane-goes-traditional.html

finally got a chance to hear one of these new/old adam lane albums, 'oh freedom', some good loose blowing on it.

j., Saturday, 30 November 2013 18:28 (ten years ago) link

The Burning Ambulance 25 Best Jazz Albums of 2013 are rolling out in five parts. Here are #s 25-21.

Humorist (horse) (誤訳侮辱), Monday, 9 December 2013 15:47 (ten years ago) link

hmm, that jeremy pelt track is on some erik truffaz vibes. can't decide if i'm into it or not. the drumming is the best part.

i'd love to check out the tim warfield and chris potter records when i get a chance.

festival culture (Jordan), Monday, 9 December 2013 16:20 (ten years ago) link

I really wish ECM would put their shit on Spotify so I could embed something from the Potter.

Humorist (horse) (誤訳侮辱), Monday, 9 December 2013 16:29 (ten years ago) link

I forgot that I have an eMusic subscription, and it just sparked back into life after I suspended it for three months, so I downloaded three Donald Byrd albums: Street Lady, Stepping into Tomorrow and Places and Spaces.

Humorist (horse) (誤訳侮辱), Tuesday, 10 December 2013 04:15 (ten years ago) link

Anyone heard the Dawn of Midi album, Dysnomia? Not sure if it's jazz or postrock or just really, really minimal. 9 songs, 46 minutes, piano, bass, drums, recorded live, feels like one long track. Reminds me of The Necks, Fugazi, VERY minimal techno perhaps. Very metronomic, repetitive, subdued, but absolutely fascinating. Know almost nothing about them.

I can still taste the Taboo in my mouth when I hear those songs (Scik Mouthy), Tuesday, 10 December 2013 09:29 (ten years ago) link

Yeah, I like it a lot. If you like it, you should check out early albums (the ones not on ECM) by Nik Bärtsch's Ronin, who do a similar thing but slightly more organic-sounding, even though they're driven by electric rather than acoustic piano.

Humorist (horse) (誤訳侮辱), Tuesday, 10 December 2013 12:01 (ten years ago) link

I wish I liked Dawn of Midi more than I do.

Currently enjoying Next Collective, Cover Art: songs by D'Angelo, Kanye/Jay-Z, N*E*R*D, Pearl Jam, Stereolab, Meshell Ndegeocello, Bon Iver, Dido, and Little Dragon.

Noblesse J. Blige (jaymc), Wednesday, 11 December 2013 01:54 (ten years ago) link

heh, here's another Cover Art that came out this year: http://hellfyreclub.bandcamp.com/album/cover-art

festival culture (Jordan), Wednesday, 11 December 2013 14:24 (ten years ago) link

Well-said
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2013/12/the-quietly-revolutionary-guitar-of-jim-hall.html(Forgot Hall was in Jimmy Giuffre 3, who turned out to be quite the forerunners of atmospheric woodsy etc. Here they are, performing "The Train and the River" in Jazz On A Summer's Day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfLsEH4csQ4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfLsEH4csQ4 So good.

dow, Thursday, 12 December 2013 00:32 (ten years ago) link

What happened there---sorry, here they are with *Hall*, not Brookmeyer (this is the original recording)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-4ZqhHOFsM

dow, Thursday, 12 December 2013 00:35 (ten years ago) link

The Burning Ambulance 25 Best Jazz Albums of 2013:

25. Meg Okura and the Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble, Music of Ryuichi Sakamoto
24. Tim Warfield, Eye of the Beholder
23. Tarbaby, Ballad of Sam Langford
22. Chris Potter, The Sirens
21. Jeremy Pelt, Water and Earth
20. David Ake, Bridges
19. Joel Harrison 19, Infinite Possibility
18. JD Allen, Grace
17. Miles Davis, Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2
16. Melodic Art-Tet, Melodic Art-Tet
15. Various Artists, Long Story Short
14. Nicolas Masson/Roberto Pianca/Emanuele Maniscanco, Third Reel
13. Rich Halley 4, Crossing the Passes
12. Little Women, Lung
11. Dead Neanderthals, ...And It Ended Badly
10. William Parker, Wood Flute Songs
9. Dave Douglas Quintet, Time Travel
8. Michael Bates/Samuel Blaser Quintet, One From None
7. Aaron Parks, Arborescence
6. Matthew Shipp, Piano Sutras
5. Matana Roberts, Coin Coin Chapter Two: Mississippi Moonchile
4. Mostly Other People Do the Killing, Slippery Rock
3. Ghost Train Orchestra, Book of Rhapsodies
2. Hush Point, Hush Point
1. Nick Hempton, Odd Man Out

Humorist (horse) (誤訳侮辱), Friday, 13 December 2013 15:53 (ten years ago) link

nice. i got excited thinking that the aaron parks was a new group record, oh well.

judging from your list i think you would dig this record i posted upthread.

festival culture (Jordan), Friday, 13 December 2013 18:46 (ten years ago) link

Cool; I like the people in his band. I'll check it out as soon as The Wire tops off my Paypal account.

Humorist (horse) (誤訳侮辱), Friday, 13 December 2013 18:58 (ten years ago) link

Francis Davis, with comments on the year in Jazz and overall poll results (agree w his disappointed minority opinion of the latest Shorter), but I prefer reading about his own choices and comments on same (damn, a New York Art Quartet box?!)
http://www.npr.org/blogs/bestmusic2013/2013/12/18/252001963/wayne-shorter-and-the-years-other-passing-scenery

dow, Friday, 20 December 2013 17:20 (ten years ago) link

I'm on his side w/r/t Shorter too (that album was never even in contention for my ballot).

Humorist (horse) (誤訳侮辱), Friday, 20 December 2013 22:19 (ten years ago) link

oh shit there was a new mary halvorson?

j., Friday, 20 December 2013 22:44 (ten years ago) link

There several mary halvorson cd´s this year.
i guess this one was too late for Davis´ list:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxBE7SyKzoA
It was reviewed at Stef´s freejazz blog.

There was also a bass/guitar release on Intakt with Halvorson and Stephen Crumb calles ´Super 8´.
A new Meg Okura cd? Nice.

EvR, Saturday, 21 December 2013 09:19 (ten years ago) link

two weeks pass...

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